Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin
]] ]] Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin is a 1997 made-for-video animated film. It was actually the first feature-length direct-to-video Winnie-the-Pooh story to be released by Disney, as its predecessor, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, was actually a compilation of three previously released featurettes. Pooh’s Grand Adventure also differs from its predecessors for being based on an original story, rather than being a direct adaptation of the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne, although the dialogue at the very end of the movie does have some similarities to the end chapter of The House at Pooh Corner. Cast * Winnie the Pooh – Jim Cummings * Piglet – John Fiedler (singing voice provided by Steve Schatzberg for the Song Everything Is Right) * Tigger – Paul Winchell (singing voice provided by Jim Cummings for the Song Everything Is Right) * Rabbit – Ken Sansom (singing voice provided by Jess Harnell for the Song Everything Is Right) * Eeyore – Peter Cullen (singing voice provided by Dylan Watson for the Song Everything Is Right) * Owl – Andre Stojka * Christopher Robin – Brady Bluhm (singing voice provided by Frankie J. Galasso for the Songs Forever and Ever and Everything Is Right) *The Narrator – David Warner Sources The film’s plot is based primarily on two A. A. Milne stories from The House at Pooh Corner: “In which Rabbit has a busy day and we learn what Christopher Robin does in the mornings,” and “In which Christopher Robin and Pooh come to an Enchanted Place and we leave them there”. Plot Once upon the last day of a golden summer, Christopher Robin was looking for his best friend Winnie the Pooh Bear in order to tell him something important and apparently not good. But Pooh doesn’t pay attention and all Christopher is able to tell him is that, if they ever get separated, there are three things that Pooh should remember: He’s braver than he believes, stronger than he seems and smarter than he thinks. Pooh goes to sleep and completely forgets to remember these facts. The next day is the first day of autumn, and as soon as he gets up, Pooh decides to commemorate. When he goes outside he finds an abandoned honey pot and assumes that it’s a gift for him. There’s a little note attached to the pot, but Pooh does not notice it. He starts looking for Christopher Robin to ask him about the honey, but is not able to find him. Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore and Rabbit also know nothing about the honey, but Rabbit sees the note and they decide to visit Owl, as he's the only one in the Wood that can read. However, the note is already stained with honey and Owl has difficulty in reading it and misspelled the school for skull. The note originally read: “Dear Pooh: Don’t worry about me. I’m not going far away; just to school. Be back this afternoon. Help yourself to this honey. Christopher Robin.” But Owl reads this: “Dear Pooh: Worry about me. I’m going far away, to Skull. Help. Christopher Robin.” Assuming that “skull” is a dangerous far away land guarded by a terrible monster called the “Skullasaurus”, Owl quickly draws a map and Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger and Eeyore go on a quest to rescue their friend. In this search, they travel through the farthest parts of the Hundred Acre Wood, facing a forest of thorny plants, cliffs, caverns and strong winds that tear up the map. Tired and lost, and having no idea of where to go, they decide to sleep inside a large cave until the fog disappears. The next day, Piglet is scared stiff when he realizes that the cave is, in fact, exactly like Owl had described Skull. They all realize that Christopher must be somewhere inside it and decide to venture deep into the cave and search for him. Soon the group travel the hundred acre woods in hope of finding Christopher Robin But as soon as the group arrive in the upside down rock Rabbit starts questioning Pooh’s leadership skills and they soon end up scattering leading Rabbit to take lead. The group soon trek to a thorny area where Piglet soon finds a Nice and Peaceful spot where he is lifted by various butterflies and soon loses courage. Later they arrive in a gloomy mountain area where Rabbit convinces Pooh to follow the map instead of his instincts though eventually Rabbit’s map rips in two and he loses confidence instantly. With the map flying about Tigger tries to catch it but fails and falls down a trench losing courage until Pooh and the gang form a human rope to save him but they soon fall down though they manage to unite the map later they spend the night in a cave where Pooh is generally sad towards how they are unable to find Christopher Robin and soon Rabbit comforts him while he sleeps later that morning they soon discover that they spent the night inside Skull. Inside “Skull”, they see that there are many possible paths and decide to separate. Pooh gets stuck in the bottom of a deep hole and the others believe that he has been devoured by the Skullasaurus. Depressed but determinate, the others continue the search and find Christopher (who had came back from school and was also looking for them). They all find Pooh and discover that there was no Skull, he was at school, and no monsters after all, and that the “terrible noises” they had been hearing were actually Pooh’s tummy begging for that honey. Rabbit realizes Owl was only joking. Lastly, Pooh and his friends realize that they are in fact braver than they believed, stronger than they seemed and smarter than they thought. They all sing, Everything Is Right. Christopher Robin and Pooh take Tigger, Piglet, Rabbit, and Eeyore home. As he and Christopher Robin are together again, Christopher Robin tells Pooh he has to go to school again tomorrow, (his third day, since they were looking for him for two days). Pooh offers that he, Rabbit, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore will find him again, but Christopher Robin says no. Then he says “Pooh, promise you won’t forget me. Not even when I’m 100.” Then Pooh asks “How old shall I be then?” To which Christopher Robin replies “99.” Then Mr. Narrator tells us that this is where we leave a boy and his bear, ending the film. Fast Facts * U.S. Release Date: August 5, 1997 * U.S. DVD Release Date: April 15, 2005 Trivia *This is the first Winnie the Pooh film that Jim Cummings voiced Winnie the Pooh. *This was the last film and the last time in which Paul Winchell voiced Tigger’s character, although he was supposed to provide the voice for a couple of television releases following the film, but he got too old and tired of voicing Tigger and gave up, so Jim Cummings (without Paul Winchell) continued to voice Tigger. In future releases, the voice was also provided by Jim Cummings, who had already begun to do the voice in some installments of the series. *For some reason, Gopher, Kanga, and Roo don't appear in this movie, But Kanga and Roo make a major comeback on The Tigger Movie, and Gopher re-appeared on Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie. *This is the first time that Andre Stojka provides Owl’s voice replacing the late Hal Smith who died in 1994. *Some critics stated that the movie should’ve been rated PG instead of G which it ended up getting. The reason was because they felt certain scenes in “Adventure Is a Wonderful Thing” were too scary for the younger kids. *Eeyore was mainly in this film for comic relief. *The closed captions read “Boy” when Christopher Robin was heard calling out, “Pooh Bear!” * This is the last Winnie the Pooh film to use cel animation. * For some odd reason the VHS of this film has the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection logo, despite a stand alone release where the logo is not seen anywhere in the box. * This is the Only Film not to feature Any Females Nor Female Actors. * The DVD was going to be released in May 2004, then it planned to be released on November 9, 2004, but was ultimately released on April 11, 2006. (1 year before) Songs *Forever and Ever *Adventure Is a Wonderful Thing *If It Says So *Wherever You Are *Everything Is Right Category:Movies Category:Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin Category:Direct-to-Video films Category:Films Category:1997 Films Category:Stubs Category:Stub Category:Vhs